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Klingon
The Klingons were a humanoid warrior species that originated from the planet Qo'noS (pronounced Kronos), an M-class planet in the Beta Quadrant. One of the major powers of the galaxy, the Klingons were a proud, tradition-bound people who valued honor and combat. The aggressive Klingon culture had made them an interstellar military power to be respected and feared. History and politics :Main article: Klingon history Kahless the Unforgettable founded the Klingon Empire some time in the 9th century through the performance of many heroic feats. He unified the Klingon people when he killed the tyrant Molor. Kahless came to be revered in Klingon society to the point of near-deification, and many aspects of Klingon culture came to revolve around an emulation of Kahless' life. ( ) , Data gave the exact date of Kahless' death as 1,547 years ago (from 2369), or AD 822. Also, according to , the Earth calendar year of 2373 coincides with the year of Kahless 999.}} The warrior ethos had been an important aspect of Klingon society since the time of Kahless, but the warrior aspects became much more dominant beginning in the early 22nd century. Previously, Klingon society was regarded as socially balanced, but over time, the warrior caste gained greater prominence, to the point where the Klingons widely came to be regarded as a "warrior race." ( ) Because of their aggressive outlook, the Klingons generally had poor relations with other races after they began to move out into space. Because the worlds of the Klingon Empire were resource-poor, the Klingons developed an intense belief in the need for expansion and conquest in order to survive. The Klingons' relationship with Humans and the Federation was rocky at best. Following the disastrous first contact between Klingons and Humans in the Broken Bow Incident, tense rivalries and unavoidable conflicts often developed between the two races. ( ; ) In the year 2154, the Klingons gained access to the genetic material of Human Augments and tried to adapt this genetic engineering to improve themselves. The test subjects did gain increased strength and intelligence, but then, their neural pathways started to degrade and they died in agony. One of the subjects suffered from the Levodian flu, which was modified by the Augment DNA to become a fatal, airborne, mutagenic plague that spread rampantly through the Empire, from world to world. In the first stage of this plague, Klingons lost the ridges on their foreheads and began to look more Human. With the help of a Klingon scientist named Antaak, Dr. Phlox of the Earth starship was able to formulate a cure that halted the genetic effects of the virus in the first stage. This retained the changes in appearance, along with some minor neural re-ordering. The neural ordering caused changes in the emotional make-up of the Klingons. For example, the infected started to feel fear. Even though the infected did not develop any stage-two characteristics – such as enhanced strength, speed, or endurance – they did not die from it. This left millions of Klingons changed. These alterations were even passed on to their children. ( ) From the 2270s onward, Klingons encountered by the Federation had their forehead ridges restored. ( ) The fallout from their failed attempt at genetic enhancement apparently so embarrassed the Klingons that they refused to discuss the incident with outsiders. Due to the secrecy of the Klingon Empire, knowledge of the change became lost over time to the general population of the Federation. By the 24th century, the reason for smooth-forehead Klingons was not widely known outside the Empire, and questions were generally met with a brusque answer along the lines of, "We do not discuss it with outsiders." ( ; ) By 2223, relations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire degenerated to a point of relentless hostility, which lasted for several decades. ( ; ) The lingering tensions between Klingons and Humans continued to rise, eventually leading to the Battle of Donatu V, near Sherman's Planet in 2245, and later erupted into what was considered the Federation-Klingon War of 2267. The Organians quickly intervened and ended the war after only four days of fighting. ( ) Over the next several decades an uneasy peace developed, broken only by brief but fierce skirmishes and conflicts. ( ; ) A true and lasting peace finally came in 2293, with the signing of the Khitomer Accords, thanks to the efforts of Chancellor Gorkon and the Human Starfleet officer James T. Kirk. ( ; ; ; ) Since then, despite several periods of rocky relations (see Federation-Klingon War (2372-73)), the Federation and the Klingon Empire have been steadfast allies, especially in the face of Dominion aggression in the 2370s. ( ) The Klingon relationship with the Romulan people was also extremely unstable. A short-lived alliance and technology exchange notwithstanding, the Klingons typically regarded the Romulan Star Empire as a "blood enemy" since at least the 23rd century. Sporadic Romulan attacks against Klingon colonies (see Khitomer Massacre) and interference in Klingon affairs (see Klingon Civil War) continued to sour relationships between the two peoples. ( ; ) According to , the Klingons joined the Federation by the 26th century. ( ) Parallel universes In the mirror universe, the Klingons and Cardassians founded the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance in the 24th century and defeated the Terran Empire. ( ) In the alternate reality, in 2233, the crew of the briefly considered whether a particular lightning storm effect, observed by the Kelvin near the edge of Klingon space, might be Klingon in origin. Starfleet discarded this possibility. The phenomenon preceded the arrival of the Romulan mining vessel Narada from the prime universe. The Narada attacked and obliterated an armada of 47 Klingon Warbirds in 2258. ( ) of the alternate reality]] By 2259 in the alternate reality, after first contact with the Empire, the Klingons had conquered and occupied two planets known to the Federation and fired on Starfleet ships half a dozen times. Tensions between the two powers were high and an all-out war was considered inevitable. During that year, before surrendering to the Federation, destroyed three patrol ships on the Klingon homeworld, killing the crews of the vessels. ( ) Society "Even half drunk, Klingons are among the best warriors in the galaxy." : – The Doctor Klingon society was extremely complex. Before its decline in the mid 22nd century and again in the late 23rd century, Klingon society was based on a feudal system organized around traditional Great Houses of noble lineage, to which various parts of the population owed fealty. The Great Houses are traditionally represented in the Klingon High Council, which is led by a Chancellor. The decline of Klingon culture is demonstrated in the acts of the Klingons themselves. They stopped caring about their weapons to the point that they let them rust and even stopped caring for true honor. ( ) Sometime after the augment virus took hold of the Klingon Empire, a new regime took control, turning the Empire into an authoritarian state that kept tabs on all who served. ( ) The old ways returned in the latter 23rd and early 24th centuries respectively. Males traditionally dominated public life in the Empire, assuming the leading roles in politics and the military with only rare exceptions. ( ) A notable exception to the prohibition of women serving on the High Council came when Azetbur became Chancellor of the High Council after her father, Gorkon, was assassinated in 2293. ( ) Women, in turn, traditionally dominated the household and the management of the family's affairs. ( ) Klingon women were treated as equals, except in politics and matters of inheritance. Law prohibited them from serving in the High Council and they could not take control of their Houses unless they had the money and no male successors of the lineage. Otherwise, Klingon women were expected to exhibit the same physical prowess and lust for blood and honor as the men. Klingon society functioned through a system of family reputation and honor. Tradition was an integral part of their lives and breaking from observances was considered a grievous insult to society, an insult not forgotten easily. An offense usually brought shame to the offender's name for several generations. The highest shame was discommendation, an action by the High Council to officially strip a Klingon of his personal or family honor. Bloodlines and relations were also taken very seriously by any "true" Klingon. Lines comprised more than mere family members. ( ) An integral part of tradition was the various rituals that marked milestones in a Klingon's life or the history of the Empire. Most notable of the rites was the Rite of Succession, which a future leader of the Empire had to complete with a valid Arbiter of Succession (Captain Jean-Luc Picard, in the case of Gowron) overseeing the proceedings. Before the Rite could begin, there was another elaborate ceremony needed to confirm the death of the previous leader. This was known as the Sonchi ceremony. ( ) Individual Klingon warriors were expected to go through the Rite of Ascension to be recognized as a full adult. ( ) If the house that an individual Klingon belonged to was dissolved or fell into dishonor, he could be adopted into another house through the R'uustai or alternative ceremonies that symbolically marked the joining of kinship and allegiance. ( ; ) Klingons were extremely territorial. According to the first known Klingon linguist, there was no such thing as an "insignificant corner of Klingon space". ( ) and also suggests the Klingon Empire to be a currency-based economy, i.e., a monetary society, to some degree. Illustrator Ricardo Delgado – while doing early sketches of key Deep Space 9 sets – illustrated a Ferengi ATM machine, for the station's Promenade, which even included a symbol for Klingon currency. (The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, pp. 157-158)}} Physiology , A typical Klingon male]] ]] The most distinctive feature of Klingon anatomy (except in those individuals afflicted with the Augment virus) was a sagittal crest, beginning on the forehead and often continuing over the skull. The cranium was encased in an exoskeleton, which possessed a feature known as the tricipital lobe. ( ) On average, Klingons were larger and physically stronger than Humans, though they possessed a much lower tolerance for cold weather. ( ; ) They were known to lack tear ducts. ( ) ; )}} Klingon blood could contain ribosomes that were compatible for transfusion with a Romulan. ( ) , Klingon blood appears pink/violet. In the scenes where free-floating Klingon blood droplets are shown in zero gravity, though, the blood is lit red, in red alert conditions. The film, as originally written, instead included green Klingon blood, though this was changed due to Vulcan blood commonly being said to be green. (audio commentary, ''Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country'' (Special Edition) DVD) The Klingon blood was colored lavender specifically for ratings and plot purposes. In essence, the purple blood was intended to show up as clearly alien. ( ) Steven-Charles Jaffe commented, "ILM did a wonderful job with the floating CGI blood." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 22, No. 5, p. 43) It is possible that Klingon blood is "canonically" pink in color, because of what Colonel Worf says in The Undiscovered Country regarding the difference in Klingon blood compared to Human blood (after Colonel West, disguised as a Klingon, is shot down). On the other hand, with the sole exception of Star Trek VI, Klingon blood has always been red in every instance that it has been shown, including in , , and multiple episodes of all of the Star Trek television series. By way of explanation, Larry Nemecek posited, "Perhaps, in hindsight, the blood globs we saw in ''ST:VI were interacting in an odd and visible way amid toxins in the malfunctioning atmospheric system of Gorkon's heavily damaged ship!" ( )}} Internally, Klingon anatomy was markedly different from that of Humans. There was a great deal more multiple redundancy in their organs, a principle they called ''brak'lul. This allowed Klingons to survive severe injuries in battle. They had twenty-three ribs, two livers, an eight-chambered heart, three lungs, and even redundant neural function as well as multiple stomachs. Some geneticists believed that the extra organs, notably the third lung, evolved to give Klingons greater stamina on the battlefield. Klingons had relatively little knowledge of their own biology and their medicine was very poorly developed. This was largely due to their warrior traditions – a Klingon who was wounded was expected to be left to either survive through his own strength, die, or undergo the hegh'bat, a form of ritual suicide. ( ; ) Despite the anatomical and physiological differences between Klingons and Humans, the two species had very similar nutritional requirements. Dr. Pulaski once noted that, while most Humans find Klingon food unpalatable, usually, "what kills us, kills them." ( ) However, the "tea" used in the Klingon tea ceremony seems to be an exception. ( ) Apparently, the tea concentrated some (unknown) toxic heavy elements found in the soil in which its planet of origin grew, synthesizing a poison deadly to Humans, and capable of seriously sickening Klingons, as it did. Klingon pregnancies normally ran thirty weeks, but with mixed species, gestation times were shorter. The odds against Klingon-Human conceptions were rather high; however, when successful, Klingon and Human metabolisms sometimes clashed, causing biochemical fluctuations in the mother, which may lead to fainting. Klingon traits remained dominant for several generations, even with a single ancestor; therefore, a child even ¼ Klingon still possessed forehead ridges, if he or she carried the gene. ( ) Klingons had ridged spines, chests and feet. ( ; ; ) After birth, some Klingon infants experienced a pronounced curvature to the spine, a form of scoliosis, which was correctable by surgery. This "defect" tended to run in Klingon families, especially among females. Federation medicine, fortunately, advanced beyond that, allowing an additional choice of treatment involving genetic modification. ( ) Klingon children matured far more quickly than Human children. At the age of only one Earth year, a Klingon child had the appearance a Human child had at about four. By the age of eight Earth years, a Klingon attained the maturity a Human did not reach until about age sixteen. ( ; ) When Klingon children began growing into adults, they went through jak'tahla, a Klingon form of puberty. ( ) Like other mammalian species, Klingon females were capable of lactating to breast-feed infants. ( ) Klingons tended to live for over 150 years. Even into advanced old age, they tended to still be strong enough for combat. ( ) Doctor Julian Bashir once sarcastically noted that the natural odor produced by Klingons was comparable to an "earthy, peaty aroma with a hint of lilac." ( ) To Humans and Vulcans alike, Klingon ships smelled bad. ( ; ) For example, Leonard McCoy once referred to the environment of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey, operated until recently by Klingons, as having a "stench." ( ) ) a note which stated that a Klingon latrine would lose its stench after hundreds of years, Garfield Reeves-Stevens believed an exception could be made for the Klingons. In agreement, Michael Okuda respectfully disputed Bormanis' note in an audio commentary for "Observer Effect", based on the comment McCoy makes about the Bird-of-Prey stinking in The Voyage Home. However, Okuda also erroneously attributed the remark to Montgomery Scott.}} Klingons such as Kurn had the instinctive ability to sense the decision to kill by looking into the eyes of their opponents. ( ) Worf did not have this ability, probably due to the fact that he was raised by Humans on Earth. reference book Starfleet Medical Reference Manual names the Klingon species as the Klingonoid biped or Homo Sagittarii, from the the planet Klingonii also known as Epsilon Sagittarii B. Klingons are said to be bred for efficiency in a strict, government-supervised selective breeding program.}} Religion and tradition :See also: Klingon wedding Ritual was a very important element in Klingon society. While the Klingons were not a religious people as such, they did believe that deities existed at one time. However, Klingon warriors supposedly slew their gods, as they were considered to be more trouble than they were worth. ( ) . Makeup effects artist Kenny Myers attempted to imbue a sense of Klingon evolution in the design by slightly redesigning the forehead, so it was a little higher than usual. (The Making of the Trek Films, UK 3rd ed., p. 90)}} Klingons did not believe in fate; however, they did appear to believe in some form of luck. ( ) Once a Klingon died, the spirit was considered to have exited the body, leaving behind a worthless shell to be disposed of. ( ) In the Klingon death ritual, it was traditional for those on hand to howl into the sky, as a warning to the afterlife that a Klingon warrior was about to arrive. ( ; ) In some cases, a funeral dirge was sung in memory of the deceased, or friends sat with the body to protect it from predators, a practice known as ak'voh. ( ) Furthermore, a Klingon who was unable to fight, and hence unable to live as a warrior anymore, had the traditional obligation of committing the hegh'bat, which was the Klingon ritual suicide. Tradition dictated that the eldest son or a close personal friend must assist. That person's role was to hand the dying Klingon a knife so that he could plunge it into his heart, remove it, and then wipe the blood on his own sleeve. ( ) The Klingon afterlife was supposedly divided into two branches. The dishonored were taken to Gre'thor aboard the Barge of the Dead, a vessel captained by Kortar, the first Klingon. Kortar was supposedly the one who had originally killed the gods who created him and was condemned to ferry the dishonored to Gre'thor as a punishment. Once in Gre'thor, the dishonored were watched over by Fek'lhr, a vaguely Klingon-esque figure. While it may be tempting to view Fek'lhr as the Klingon equivalent of the Human devil, according to a statement made by Kang, the Klingons had no devil. ( ; ; ) Those who died honorably supposedly went to Sto-vo-kor, where Kahless was said to await them. However, should a noble warrior die in a manner that might not merit a place in Sto-vo-kor, such as being assassinated in a surprise attack, he may still earn a place, if others dedicated a great battle to his name, thus showing that he had earned respect among the living. ( ; ; ) Klingon rituals included the R'uustai, a bonding ceremony which joined two people together in a relationship similar to brotherhood. ( ) Klingon tradition held that "the son of a Klingon is a man the day he can first hold a blade." ( ) If a Klingon warrior struck another Klingon with the back of his hand, it was interpreted as a challenge to the death. Klingon warriors spoke proudly to each other; they did not whisper or keep their distance. Standing far away or whispering were considered insults in Klingon society. ( ) According to Worf, taking hostages was considered by Klingons to be a cowardly act. Although, there was an incident in which a Klingon aimed his disruptor at the Enterprise-D's warp core, thus taking the ship hostage, in effect. When going into battle, Klingon warriors often sang the traditional warriors' anthem, which was essentially an invocation to Kahless and a pledge to win a good death in battle. ( ) When choosing a mate, it was traditional for a female Klingon to bite the male's face, allowing her to taste his blood and get his scent. Males were also known to bite the face of the female they were interested in. ( ) )}} Worf once told Wesley Crusher that, per Klingon mating rituals, "Men do not roar. Women roar. Then they hurl heavy objects. And claw at you." Of men, Worf said, "He reads love poetry. He ducks a lot." ( ) Klingon daughters traditionally were given a piece of jewelry called a jinaq when they became old enough to select a mate. ( ) and . (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion, 3rd ed., p. 42) Director Cliff Bole intended for an aggressive behavior he thought up while filming – specifically, a female digging her nails into a male lover's hand so much as to draw blood – to be a typical Klingon mating ritual. "I was wondering what these people do," Bole related, "and I had the image of bones breaking and felt that's what they do when they get it on." (Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages, p. 182) Writer Ronald D. Moore further developed Klingon dating in , which deeply explored the subject. The considerable strangeness of Klingon mating practices enabled him to emphasize how alien a society the Klingons were. "I wanted the courting to be non-human," he explained. "I didn't want it to be something that people could really relate to how they courted. I wanted it to be a fascinating, otherworldly courting relationship that was ritualized and that had all these sort of romantic elements." Moore was additionally interested in portraying Klingon courting as having a grand scale and a ferocious intensity. "It wouldn't just be that uncomfortable situation of two people sitting on a porch together .... I also wanted to get the violence of their sex in." Due to some people having the opinion that this was encouraging violence towards women, though, the ferocity of Klingon mating became somewhat controversial. "I took a bit of stick for that," Moore admitted, "but my attitude was 'Who cares?' I just thought that was the worst kind of politically correct response possible ... and preposterous." ( , pp. 85-86)|Ronald D. Moore, who has defined much of Klingon culture, has commented at length on Klingon philosophy. When preparing the script for , he wrote a memo defining his take on the Klingons. He compared them to "the Samurai of feudal Japan, the Vikings, and the ." While writing for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he elaborated more. |See also: Klingon mythology.}} Science and technology *Klingon starship classes *Klingon starships *Klingon blade weapons *Klingon language The kellicam was a common Klingon unit of length measurement. People *Klingons *Unnamed Klingons Klingon space *Klingon planets *Klingon Neutral Zone Food and beverages *''Bahgol'' *Bloodwine *Bregit lung *''Chech'tluth'' *Firewine *''Gagh'' *''Gladst'' *Grapok sauce *Heart of targ *Klingon martini *''O'mat Gri T'M pffiots'' *Pipius claw *''Racht'' *Rokeg blood pie *Raktajino *Warnog *''Zilm'kach'' Appendices Appearances A list of all appearances of Klingons (excluding appearances of Worf and B'Elanna Torres). * ** (Season One) ** ** ** (Season Two) ** ** ** ** (Season Four) ** ** ** * ** (Season One) ** (Season Two) ** ** ** (Season Three) ** ** (Excalbian recreation only) * ** ** * ** (Season One) ** ** (Season Two) ** (holograms only) ** ** (archive footage only) ** (hologram only) (Season Three) ** ** (Season Four) ** (illusion only) ** ** ** ** (Season Five) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (Season Six) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (Season Seven) ** ** * ** (Season One) ** ** (Season Two) ** ** ** ** ** ** (Season Three) ** ** ** (Season Four) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (Season Five) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (Season Six) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (Season Seven) ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** * ** (Season Three) ** (hologram only) ** (hologram only) (Season Four) ** (hologram only) ** (hologram only) ** (Klingon Borg) ** (photo only) ** (dream only) (Season Six) ** (Klingon Borg) ** (Klingon Borg) (Season Seven) ** (hologram only) ** ** ** * Films: ** ** ** ** ** ** ** (Borg drones) ** (deleted scene) ** , they attempt to attack V'ger and are vaporized. They appear in the simulation of the Kobayashi Maru test in . They are the primary villains after the Genesis technology in . In , the primary vessel is a Klingon Bird-of-Prey and the Klingon ambassador appears early on, to have Kirk extradited. In , a Klingon ambassador is featured again, on Nimbus III, and they also appear as secondary villains, as a young brash Klingon officer chases Kirk for the glory of defeating an infamous enemy of the Empire. In , General Chang is the primary villain as a Klingon and they also appear throughout the film during the peace process of the Khitomer Accords.|In all TNG movies, Worf appears despite his commitments to Deep Space 9, and the Duras sisters appear in . At least three Borg drones seen in are also of Klingon origin.|The Klingon ships once again appear in the Kobayashi Maru scenario in the film . Their full appearance was cut from the film, their prevalence up to then leading Damon Lindelof – who worked on the movie as a producer and a writer of the film's screenplay – to remark, "What ''Trek film would be complete without Klingons? The answer is... ours." (deleted scene "Klingons Take Over Narada" audio commentary, and Three disc Blu-ray)) Klingons were shown on Ketha Province of Qo'noS in . Klingons do not appear in .}} Background information *See: Depicting Klingons Apocrypha In the novel ''Summon the Thunder, part of the Star Trek: Vanguard series, the Klingons who had a Human appearance (descendants of the victims of the Klingon Augment virus) are referred to as "QuchHa", or "the unhappy ones". They usually served in their own units although they also were known to mix with the rest of the fleet on occasion. "Against Their Nature", the first installment of "Star Trek: Klingons - Blood Will Tell", an IDW Comics series which tells the stories of , , , and from the Klingon point of view, suggests that, while Phlox and Antaak's cure removed Augment strength and Augment intelligence, those affected retained the superior ambition of Augments, and as such these Klingons were largely responsible for the Empire's expansion in the century between Enterprise and TOS, eventually becoming powerful enough to achieve a majority on the High Council. In the novel Pawns and Symbols, Klingons are discovered to be color-blind in the Human sense, unable to distinguish red from black. It is also discovered that their vision extends into the ultraviolet, to 32,000 Ångströms. In the novel , the Klingons are described as having been economically conquered and uplifted by the Karsid empire. The Klingons then rebelled and overthrew the Karsids, obtaining their high technology. This was given as one reason for why the Klingons were the way they were, and also how they could have developed star-faring technology given their current social structure. In Star Trek Online, most Klingons are once again enemies with the Federation by 2399, having taken advantage of the Romulans by conquering much of their territory in the wake of the death of Shinzon and then the destruction of Romulus. The Klingons have also conquered the Gorn, the Orions, and the Nausicaans. Evidently, Klingons are seen joining Starfleet, if unlocked. The Federation-based mission "Past Imperfect" gives a possible answer to how the Augment virus' alterations was eventually cured by revealing that the mad Klingon Admiral B'Vat had kidnapped Miral Paris and brought her to the past, where they used her Klingon/Human DNA to manufacture a cure. External links * * * * KlingonSearch.com - dedicated Klingon search portal ca:Klingon cs:Klingon de:Klingone eo:Klingonoj es:Klingons fr:Klingon it:Klingon ja:クリンゴン nl:Klingon pl:Klingoni pt:Klingon ru:Клингоны sv:Klingoner Category:Qo'noS Category:Species